Constant Reminder
by Phoofinator
Summary: Is it really that strange to think that the world you live in is crazy enough, even without supernatural events happening constantly? For some: not really. Others, however, would be curious as what causes these strange events to happen...
1. Hiding The Obvious Truth

**-1-**

_**Hiding The Obvious Truth**_

Out of all of the different kinds of days there were to choose from - rainy, sunny, humid, cold, windy, stormy, snowy - confusing just had to be chosen.

These were the kinds of days where you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or in Rigby's case, the trampoline.

However, Mordecai's case was a little different...

Rigby opened his eyes halfway and blinked uncomfortably a couple of times before sitting up, also uncomfortably.

"Uuugggghhh..." he groaned as he rubbed his eyes slowly. Once his hands were out of his vision, he looked over at Mordecai's bed.

Empty.

Rigby decided to ignore this fact, seeing as how Mordecai would probably just be downstairs, eating breakfast or something. So he stood up off the trampoline and looked out the window.

"Well, at least he didn't start work without me. We're supposed to mow the lawn today..." he said, clearly annoyed at the fact.

"Don't forget about weeding," said Mordecai, also clearly, but not as annoyed.

"Huh-OOF!" Rigby tried to say as he turned and tripped over...Mordecai.

As Rigby fell, he quickly tucked his head down and did a summersault across the room.

"Wa-CHA!" he shouted as he turned his head in Mordecai's direction after he was on his feet again.

Apparently, Mordecai was lying face-up on their bedroom floor, moderately close the window. His feet were pointed towards Rigby's sad excuse for a bed. His face was pointed straight up at the ceiling. If you looked close enough, you could tell he was frowning slightly.

"Weeding!?" said Rigby.

"Uuuggghhhh," Mordecai groaned as he put his left hand over his eyes, "yeah, dude. Benson gave me this big heads up last night. There's alot more than just weeding and mowing."

"Oh, I don't even wanna know, dude," said Rigby as he straightened his posture, "we'll just get 'em all done, one by one."

"That's a pretty good attitude, dude," said Mordecai, removing his hand from his eyes, nodding slowly and losing his frown. He then turned his head and faced Rigby with a more serious look, "But there's something else you might wanna know."

"What?"

"Dude... Look outside..."

Rigby crawled quickly around Mordecai to the window and looked outside at the park again. He then noticed the green was very thick.

"So what," he said, "the grass is tall. We have a pretty awesome mower, remember?"

"That's not grass, dude," said Mordecai, looking at the ceiling again.

"What?" said Rigby, confused. He then came to a realization. "AHHHH-OOF!" he screamed as he stepped back and tripped over Mordecai again, this time without the summersault.

"Those are _weeds_!?" he shouted.

Mordecai put his hand over his eyes again. "Yeah, dude, and we have to pull all of them..."

They both groaned simultaneously.

Mordecai removed his hand, looking straight up at the ceiling again. "Sorry, by the way," he said.

"Uhhh, for what?" Rigby asked, clearly confused.

Mordecai didn't look at him. He just held out two of his right-hand fingers horizontally, and showed two of his left-hand fingers tripping over them.

"Oh, it's no biggie man," said Rigby.

"That was pretty ninja the first time, though," said Mordecai.

"You bet it was," said Rigby, with his hands in a fake kung fu stance. "Hey, what are you doing down there, anyway?"

Mordecai then held up his right hand and described with it as he spoke. "I woke up early, remembering what Benson said about weeding. Then I looked out the window and fainted."

"That's it?"

"That's it, dude."

"That's kinda hard to believe, man."

"No it's not..."

"It so is! Knowing you, you'd be-"

"I know what you're gonna say," Mordecai cut him off, looking straight at his face, "don't say it, dude."

Rigby just smiled at him blankly until he looked back at the ceiling again.

"Dreamin' about _Margaret_," Rigby said, extending Mordecai's crush's name.

Mordecai looked at him again. "Well, I wasn't, dude!" he said, utterly annoyed at his comment.

"Dude, that's like trying to believe that-"

"That what?" Mordecai cut him off, "That you don't have a thing for Eileen?"

"STOP TALKING!" Rigby shouted.

They heard a knock on their bedroom door.

"Guys," they could hear Benson, who apparently wasn't yelling, "come downstairs. We need to have a meeting about the weeding."

Mordecai and Rigby both looked at each other, knowing they had the same idea...

"_Weeding-meeting_!" they jingled with their hands in the air.

"Wow, really...?" they could hear Benson sigh from behind the door. He was, as always, not amused. "And Rigby..."

Rigby looked at the door.

"He's right," they heard him say. They then heard footsteps trailing down the stairs.

Rigby had the most defeated look on his face, while Mordecai savored his own victory with a smile starting on one side of his face and ending on other.

"You really know how to dig your own graves, Rigby," Mordecai said with a smirk.

"Whatever, man," Rigby sighed in defeat and walked to the door to head downstairs.

Mordecai's smile faded as he followed. He knew that even though Rigby was defeated, he had just lied to his best friend's face. Of course he was dreaming about Margaret.

However... It wasn't exactly how Rigby imagined.


	2. Hate-Mail of a Sort

**-2-**

**Hate-Mail of a Sort**

"Hurry up, Mordecai!" Rigby shouted across the hall. He was, at this point, undoubtedly annoyed that Mordecai was intentionally walking as slow as molasses.

However, Mordecai was somewhat oblivious to this fact. He was, indeed, intentionally walking slow. But he was thinking, at a high-speed rate, about his seemingly meaningful dream last night. This dream, in particular, was not a happy one. It just wasn't.

He did, however, like the fact that he was playing video games in it. It may have had no comparison to video games in reality, but there was an added bonus: he was playing with Margaret. And she was beating him rather badly, actually. He seemed to be surprised at the time. When did Margaret start playing video games, anyway? Even though that question went unanswered for now, he didn't really bother with it. Doing anything (that wouldn't end their friendship, or the world for that matter) with Margaret was good enough for him.

Then a thought knocked on his mind's door. Mind opened the door and smiled.

"Oh, hello, Thought," said Mind, strong British accent kicking in.

"G'day to ya, Mind," said Thought, rather quickly, Australian accent kicking in. He was, basically, a cloud. A cloud with several images floating around and inside of him. There were all sorts of things that you could see in the images: goals, dreams, choices, decisions and ideas. None of which that Mind could recognize at the time. Thought also wore a flat hat, made from straw. It had a red ribbon around it.

"No, not at all," said Mind.

"No, no," said Thought, "I said 'good day TO you, Mind'."

"Oh," said Mind, "well, good day to you, too, Thought. But I still don't mind, you know. Uhm, where's Memory?"

"Oh, she's here, too."

A much smaller cloud walked out from behind Thought. She looked about the age of a four-year-old. She had a cute little pink bow on top of her. She simply stood beside Thought and smiled politely.

"Don't you know how to talk?" Mind asked.

Memory just hid behind Thought again. Thought leaned over, touched Mind's shoulder, and whispered, "She doesn't know, she only remembers, remember?"

"No, I only know, remember?" Mind whispered back.

"No, I only think, remember?"

"No," said Mind, "How do you know she doesn't know how to talk?"

"Because I'm touching your shoulder," said Thought, "and because I think Conscious isn't focused on trying to remember how to talk right now."

"Right," Mind was now enlightened, "that would explain it."

"Yes, uhmmm," said Thought, "Oh, great!" he threw his hat on the floor, "Now I don't remember what I came here for!"

Memory gasped and quickly grabbed Thought's right hand. Thought looked down at Memory, confused. She pointed at two posters that were in his other hand, and then at Mind.

"Ah, yes!" said Thought, "Thanks, Morie."

She was undoubtedly tired of that saying. She could still stand 'Oh, yeah' and maybe a 'That's right' every now and again, but 'Ah, yes' was said a large amount of times in way to many movies and TV shows that Conscious made her watch. It kept giving her headaches. So, she was, quite literally, sick of it. But being called 'Morie' was pretty cool, in her opinion. So, she just smiled at Thought as if she was just being helpful, and she was.

But once Thought looked away, towards Mind, she just rolled her eyes.

"I think I have something for you," he said, "if I remember correctly."

Memory rolled her eyes again.

"I know," said Mind. This time, both, Thought and Memory, rolled their eyes. Mind sighed. They were all definitely getting tired of their jobs. Even though Memory was only about four, she had been around for close to how long Thought and Mind had. She had only started aging more frequently after the Master got a job at this odd park. This was simply because there were more memorable events happening.

"Well," said Mind, "what is it?"

Thought then handed him the two posters he was holding. "Don't you know?" said Thought.

"Not this time," said Mind, "but it wouldn't be the first time. I only know the things that...well, that I know."

"Oh," said Thought, "well, the one with the Master's face on it has a meter below the face. It is supposed to represent the Master's level of fun, or excitement. And the one with the Master's lady friend's face is supposed to remind you be concerned with her level, also. That is why it has a question mark under her face," Thought pointed at the question mark under Margaret's face.

Mind looked at the two posters for a few seconds, then smiled.

"This was very-"

"Thoughtful is me job, mate," said Thought, looking proud, but somewhat annoyed. His job was just as old as Mind's.

"I know," said Mind. He was always getting frustrated with everyone telling him things he already knew. "Well, thank you."

"No problem," said Thought as he started to walk off with Memory, "just thought it would be a good idea."

"Bye," said Mind as he closed the door.

Back in the no-so-real reality, they were still playing video games.

From Mordecai's point of view, there was a flash of several different colors as Margaret beat him for about the hundredth time. He looked over at Margaret and then asked, "Hey, Margaret," she looked over at him, "are you still having fun with this game?"

Margaret looked back over at the TV screen, put the controller down, and sighed. "It is getting kinda boring," she said.

There came a flash from the TV. They were both then sucked into the TV and left falling down the side of a cliff. They were falling face-first. Mordecai looked to see and hear Margaret screaming as she fell. He reached out diligently to grab her hand and she did the same.

And in all that could've happened, nothing did. Literally, nothing. Cause that's when Mordecai woke up...in the middle of the floor.

Today he felt like he was being watched, hunted, stalked, spied on, or just anything in general that made him feel like someone was out to get him.

As he walked down the stairs of the park house, he was still somewhat in thought. He took a mis-step and tumbled tragically down the stairs, landing on his back at the bottom.

"OOF!"

As he stared at the ceiling, he came to a simple conclusion:

Someone was out to get him.


	3. Lost In Thought And Weeds

**-3-**

**Lost in thought... ****and Weeds**

The morning was filled with only one assignment this time, witch, surprisingly, wasn't surprising. The assignment was this:

"Weed like there's no tomorrow, guys," said Benson, as they were all gathered around in the living room. They would've gathered outside on the porch, but it was also in need of some weeding. "There isn't anything else to do right now, cause the whole park is covered."

"Aww, yeeahhh!" sang Mordecai and Rigby as they both fist-pumped.

"Mordecai and Rigby," Benson said, trying not to blow his top, "All of us already know that you guys aren't really afraid to vocalize your opinions."

"Well," said Mordecai, patting Rigby on the back, "that depends on if Eileen is mentioned or not."

Rigby just froze, and continued to freeze. He was just not happy. Partially not conscious, but mostly not happy. Everyone in the room was basically staring at him, except for Skips. Skips, knowing exactly how Rigby felt, decided against the idea of pressuring another fellow park worker and friend.

"Benson," said Skips. Everyone then turned their heads towards Skips' direction. "Is there anything else we need to hear about?"

Benson put his right hand up to his chin, as if to say he was thinking. "Nothing that I can think of," he said as he lowered his hand. There was a mutually forced sigh of relief throughout the room. They all started walking out the door to start the job that they all knew would take more than a few days.

"Oh, wait," said Benson, holding up his pointer finger. Everyone stopped and looked at Benson, hoping it wasn't that important. "Mordecai and Rigby," he started, "I know you won't like the sound of this."

Rigby mentally braced for impact. However, Mordecai put on a smile that only the blue jay himself knew was completely fake. And it looked good. Real good. "Lay it on us, man," he said with what seemed to be a calm tone. Benson knew something was up with him now, even if Mordecai himself didn't know. He would let it go for now, though. There were still other things to be taken care of right now.

"I'm gonna need you guys to mow the lawn after all the weeds are pulled," he said. He immediately hid his head behind his clipboard and turned around, trying to block out the sound of of a much-expected groan.

However, said groan never came. Instead, there was just a calm reply from Mordecai.

"Sure thing, Benson."

Everyone was currently staring at Mordecai, Rigby included. Rigby came to his senses and nudged Mordecai.

"What's with you, man?" said Rigby, "you're not yourself today."

"I am too myself, dude," said Mordecai, trying to avoid worry from his friends,"I just had a really strange dream last night, and I kinda feel like I'm being hunted, okay?"

"Like your being..." Rigby paused for effect, "...spied on?"

"No, dude," Mordecai put his hands in the air. "Like they know my every mo-OW!" Mordecai hit his hand on the door knob next to him as he lowered his hands. This only proved his point further. Therefore, he felt the need to finish his sentence. "My every move," he finished.

Benson and Rigby understood simultaneously. "I see.../Ohhh..." they said.

"Well," said Benson, "we'll be here for you if this...keeps happening. You know, if you keep getting these sort of chills."

"They're more like signs that someone really doesn't like me," said Mordecai, "but thanks, Benson. That means alot to me." Mordecai finished his sentence with thumbs-up.

"I don't think I'm ever going to be able to fire you, so I might as well offer my mental support."

Everyone let out a small chuckle at Benson's words. He was right. How in the world would he ever have the mental capacity to fire the two slackers? They've saved the park and their friends so many times, it was actually unbelievable. Literally. If you tried to tell anyone who didn't know much about them about any of their little incidents, they would do one of three things:

1. Try to keep their laughter in and change the subject while slowly scooting away from you.

2. Fail to keep their laughter in, causing everyone in the restaurant/mall/hair salon/you name it, to look at you.

3. Try not to look at you, talk to you, be with you, or generally just anything that has to do with you.

Mordecai knew how to socialize. Rigby didn't socialize. Both were glad about these facts. Mordecai didn't talk about his job, and Rigby didn't have to. Their social lives were in shambles, but that's basically how it needed to be...for a really, really long time.

"Alright," said Benson, "if we can put this aside for now, then let's get weeding, guys."

* * *

Hours...

...and hours...

...and hours...

...and hours...

...of endless weed-pulling. Rigby's back was at the point of burning and aching. He had been in the sun for too long, in his opinion. It was time for a rest, in his opinion. In his opinion, he and Mordecai should've gone to the coffee shop by now.

In Mordecai's opinion, Margaret was beautiful. No matter what Rigby said, he would just keep pulling those huge weeds - with the help of his mind, of course.

Mind decided it was getting too hot in that medium-sized room of his, so he took down from his wall the poster with the Master's lady friend's face on it. He then walked out to the look-out point and fanned himself with the poster while leaning on the rail.

Meanwhile, Conscious was having fits about the Master doing the same job for over six hours, and done nothing else but see these images of the Master's lady-friend dancing around the park that the Master himself actually worked at.

Yes, Mordecai was thinking about Margaret. It wasn't intentionally as stimulation to keep working, though. He just couldn't help it. After that dream, there was no way he could ever take his mind off of her. But hey, it was working as stimulation anyhow, so at least he wasn't getting yelled at.

"Duuuude," Rigby groaned as he yanked out another weed, "I'm so sick of this, man! Why do we have to do this!? And why does it have to be non-stop!?"

Benson came over to the two.

"Look," he said, "Skips said that it has to be non-stop or it'll grow back even worse. So don't even think about stopping until it's finished, okay?"

"Aw, man!" said Rigby, dropping his pile of weeds and throwing his hands up in the air.

"Rigby," said Mordecai, looking over to the raccoon, "let's not disappoint Benson. He's not even yelling, okay?" "Fine..."

"Thank you," said Benson. He looked over at Mordecai. "Thanks, Mordecai." And with that, he walked over to where he was working, prior to this conversation.

"Hey, Mordecai."

Mordecai lifted his head and looked around until he saw Margaret, walking towards him. She was still in her work uniform. This, most assuredly, wasn't his imagination this time.

Mordecai stood up straight and waved to her. "Oh! Hey, Margaret," he said, "what's up?"

"Oh, I was actually just heading home from work," she said, "and I stopped when I saw all these...weeds!"

Mordecai looked away from Margaret and towards the weeds. Which were big, tall...and everywhere. "Yeah, I guess you would see them from outside the park, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, sooo..." she started, "You guys think you could use an extra hand?"

"Yeah, but you don't have help us," said Mordecai, "I mean, you just got done with work and all..."

"No it's alright, I really don't mind, you know. I won't even ask for payment or anything."

"Okay, if you insist."

"I do."

"Okay, then. You can just work wherever you want."

"Hmmm..." Margaret looked around, seeing where she could work.

"This spot looks like it needs work," she said, pointing to a spot right next to Mordecai. Mordecai just rolled his eyes at her decision. But then, he realized, 'Did she just pick that spot so she would be closer to me?' She walked over to the spot she was pointing at and started pulling weeds. But when she pulled the first weed, it didn't come all the way out. Instead, it just snapped in half.

"Oh! Whoops."

Mordecai looked over and saw Margaret's little dilemma.

"Oh, here," he said, "try grabbing at the base of it instead," he pointed to the base of the weed, "it makes it alot easier."

"Oh," said Margaret, "okay. I've never actually pulled weeds before, so...thanks."

"No problem."

She then grabbed at the base of the weed, but before she could pull, it grew it's top half back. Mordecai and Margaret both fell back, startled. They took a good look at the fact that it was twice as tall as it was originally.

"Whoooaaaaa..." they said in unison.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Margaret asked.

"Uhhh," he almost chuckled, "no. Definitely not. But don't worry! This-"

"This happens on a regular basis...?" she cut him off with a smile.

Mordecai looked at Margaret with a face that tried to look innocent.

"Yeah..." he said, "it kinda does."

Margaret wasn't too surprised. She just shrugged it off, stood up and stretched her hand out to Mordecai, offering to help him up. He gladly accepted and took her hand.

"Thanks, Margaret," he said.

"Sure thing," she replied.

Mordecai looked over Margaret's shoulder and was reminded of what they needed to be doing.

"Here," he said "let's try again."

They both grabbed at the base of the weed.

"Whoa," said Mordecai, "it's way thicker now. This'll probably take alot more effort." He got ready to pull. "Ready?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, on three. One-"

"Mordecai..."

"Yeah?"

"Do you hear that?"

Mordecai put the side of his head up to the wall of weeds.

"Yeah," he said, "it sounds like some one is using the lawn mower. It's getting louder..."

"You mean closer...?"

They both widened their eyes, knowing what was about to happen.

"AHHH!" They screamed as they both immediately let go of the weed and sprang out the way of a 4'11 raccoon speeding through the park on an oversized mower.

Rigby stopped, got off of the mower and walked over to Mordecai and Margaret.

"Dude!" said Rigby, "What were you two doing there!? You could've been run over!"

"Dude!" said Mordecai, pointing at Rigby, "What are you doing with the lawn mower!? We can't just mow it all down! It has to be pulled!"

"Guys, guys..." said Margaret, separating the two, "Take a chiller, alright? There's no need for a fight, especially when there's still more work to do." She turned towards Rigby, "Look, about us being in the way..." she started, "...the only way we knew that you were coming was when we heard the lawn mower getting closer, and we barely had enough time to move out of the way when we noticed it was," she explained.

Rigby's face started to turn from upset to understanding.

"As for the mowing," she continued, "you reeeeeaaaally shouldn't be doing that."

"Why not?" Rigby complained.

The ground started to shake. Margaret involuntarily took hold of Mordecai's hand. Neither of them thought much about it, though. They all had the feeling that this was going to turn into another unusual day, but still, not that unusual. In fact, it already was. Suddenly, huge weeds started shooting up from the ground, following the trail of the lawn mower.

The wave of weeds ruthlessly split right between the three, Rigby on one side, Mordecai and Margaret on the other.

"Oh," they could hear Rigby from the other side of the re-enforced weed-wall, "That's why..."

"Yeah," said the other two, face-palming at the same time, "that's why."

Mordecai then turned to look at the lawn mower, which had been skewered by the relentless wall of weeds.

"Aw, man!" he said, gesturing to the beyond-doomed mower. Margaret looked over in that direction, then back to Mordecai.

"It's okay," she said, "you'll be okay without it, for now."

"Yeah...for now..." said Mordecai, hanging his head. While he was looking down, he noticed they were still holding hands.

"By the way..." he started.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Does this...ya know...mean anything?"

"Does what mean anything?"

He then squeezed her hand ever so slightly so that she would understand. "Oh!" she chuckled and slowly let go of his hand. "Sorry, hehe..."

"No, it's okay. I don't mind at all," he said.

"Well..." she said, "it's just that...girls often cling to guys for security when their scared or nervous."

"I kinda took a note of that at the old zoo..."

Margaret laughed lightly at that one.

"Yeah..." she said nervously, "but you wouldn't want to do that your whole life, would you?"

"What? Take notes?"

"No. I mean like, to be somebody's protector for that long..." "Ohhh..."

Margaret nodded.

"Actually," said Mordecai, "I wouldn't really mind being your personal bodyguard for life." He chuckled lightly at the word 'your'. This time, he knew it needed to be said. Although, it was still hard for him to believe that he actually said what he said. His mind was getting upset. Mind started dialing a number on the phone at his desk. He waited for someone to pick up. When they did, he sighed in relief.

"Conscious?" he said, "Ah, yes! This is Mind. I was wondering if you knew what's going on outside. Oh, you're well aware of it? Okay, bye then," he hung up. Being satisfied, he smiled, knowing that the situation was somewhat under control.

Margaret raised her eyebrows. _'Is he implying what I think he is...?'_ she thought.

"Really?" she said.

"Absolutely," said Mordecai. He began to wonder if he was thinking the right way.

"Well," said Margaret, whose cheeks were unbelievably red, "that's really sweet of you, Mordecai."

Mordecai's cheeks also started to turn red, but not quite as red.

"I might even take you up on that offer sometime," Margaret said, giggling.

Mordecai's mind started running throughout his head. Mind started knocking on everyone else's doors so they could all hear what Thought told him. This news was potentially good news. All the thoughts that were related to this potentially good news eventually led to one thought in particular. And it was this:

_'Is she implying what I think she_ _is...?'_ thought Mordecai.

"Well, it's always gonna be there for you to take," he said.

"It better be," Margaret, pointing at Mordecai.

"It will be," he said. 'This is gooood,' he thought.

"Good," she said, "but before we take this any further, we should go make sure Rigby is okay." She then motioned for him to follow as she walked around the wall of weeds. The wall had only stopped at the lawn mower so it wasn't far at all.

'Further...?' thought Mordecai, 'Further is good.'

"Sooo..." he said, "you've never weeded before?"

"Yeah, I know," said Margaret, "I've never really had the opportunity to, cause my parents always lived in the city, and their backyard is just a big, cement patio."

"That's cool," said Mordecai, "What's it like to have a patio for a backyard?" "Weed-less," Margaret said, chuckling.

"I figured that," said Mordecai.

"But you tend to miss all the green after living there for so long, you know..." said Margaret.

"I know what you mean," Margaret looked at Mordecai as he spoke, "I mean, I used to live in an apartment with my family, so I sort of had a backyard, but I didn't use it..."

"Why not?"

Mordecai found a new interest in looking at the ground.

"It was pretty small, and there were always kids down there that would bully me around..."

"Well, that's too bad."

"Yeah..."

"But hey," said Margaret. Mordecai looked up. "There's no one here to bully you, and there's..." she paused to look at all the weeds again, "...soon to be alot of room here, too."

"And there's plenty of green," Mordecai said with a smile. They both looked around at the weeds again, and then shared a quick laugh.

"Maybe a little too much, right now," said Mordecai, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah," Margaret said as they kept walking. "Hey, where's Rigby?"

Mordecai looked ahead when they got to the other side of the wall. Rigby was nowhere in sight. This frustrated both of them, but they weren't in the mood for showing it.

"I bet he's hiding again," said Mordecai, "just waiting to pop out and scare us again."

"Maybe he just wandered off," said Margaret.

"Maybe," said Mordecai. "But where could he wander-Whoa..." Mordecai cut himself off in mid-sentence. Before the two was the entrance to a maze of weeds.

"Come on," said Margaret, "he's probably in there."

"Let's hope that Rigby didn't mow for that long," said Mordecai.

The hunt began...


	4. The Thing About Mazes

**-4-**

**The Thing About Mazes**

"Rigby!" Mordecai shouted.

"Rigby, where'd you go!?" Margaret did the same.

"Come on, man!" Mordecai and Margaret were getting tired of this. They had been doing this for an hour and a half now, and it was almost completely dark. Seriously, the maze couldn't be THAT big! How on earth (or any other planet for that matter) could he have gone this far without running into them?

"Geez..." said Margaret, "this maze must be huge! It feels like it has no end!"

Mordecai let out a sigh. "Yeah..." he said, "I don't think we should go any further tonight. I mean, we can hardly see anything now..."

"Yeah," said Margaret, "you're probably right. I mean, I can barely see your face now."

"Yeah, I wish could see your face better, too," said Mordecai.

If you looked close enough, you could see Margaret's cheeks turn a light pink. She giggled a bit.

"Do you think we should get some rest?" she asked.

"I guess so..." said Mordecai, "It's gonna be kinda cold, though."

Margaret sighed. "Yeah, but we'll probably be okay..."

"I hope Rigby's okay, too..." said Mordecai, as he started to lay down. "Goodnight, Margaret."

"Goodnight, Mordecai," Margaret replied.

Mordecai turned on his side so his back was facing Margaret.

He shivered lightly as he tried to fall asleep. Then he felt something creep up against his back. It felt soft and warm. He turned his head to see what had caused this sudden warmth. As he turned his head, he felt feathers against his cheek. He immediately made an assumption, but he could still be wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a very red robin, with her back turned against his back.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, mmmyyyyyyyyyyyy..." he whispered to himself.

He then heard Margaret giggle a bit. "Oh," she said, turning her head to look at him, "I guess I surprised you, didn't I?"

He nodded.

"Well," she said, "this is the warmest position for us to be in, without it being super awkward. You know, like-"

"Yeah, I know you mean," he cut her off, knowing she hoped he would stop her before she finished her sentence.

They laid in one of the most awkward silences ever for a few seconds, then Mordecai broke the silence.

"Thanks, by the way," he said.

"For what?" Margaret asked.

"For helping with the weeds, and you know," he paused to gesture at their position, "for keeping us both warm."

"Oh," she said, "no problem. Sweet dreams."

"They're all of you," he said, sweetly. Margaret giggled again. "And sweet dreams to you, too, Margaret."

"Thanks," she replied, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Mordecai finished, as they both closed their eyes.

* * *

The morning came. It came with the tapping of warm shoulders from cold, metal hands.

Benson watched as the two bumped their heads together while stirring in their sleep. When he found them, they had been sleeping against each other's backs. He knew why they were in that position, and he was trying not to get worked up about it. He had looked all night for them and Rigby.

"Ow..." they said, grabbing the side of their heads.

"Guys," said Benson. They both looked at him. "Where's Rigby?"

They felt his pain.

"We were looking for him all day, yesterday," Mordecai said, as he sat up.

"You didn't find him either?" Margaret asked.

Benson shook his head.

"No," he said, "but we need to find him soon or I'm pretty sure something's going to happen to him. It always does, now come on."

Without any arguing, the two birds stood up and brushed themselves off.

"Okay," said Mordecai, "let's g-Whoa..."

"Gee, Mordecai," said Margaret, "seems like you've been having trouble finishing your-" she gasped before she could finish her sentence.

They were both looking at the same thing: the now 35-foot weeds.

"What's the matter?" Benson cut in.

"The weeds..." Mordecai said, almost emotionlessly, "they're taller."

"Way taller," Margaret corrected.

"Yeah," said Benson, "they grew overnight, and they're gonna keep growing, so hurry up." Benson started to walk away, opposite to the direction he came from.

"Right," said Mordecai. "That's a good idea."

"Let's go, then," said Margaret.

They walked, turned, took notes, made mistakes, turned around, and in the end, they all generally just got frustrated.

After several long alleys, short turns, and dead ends, Benson made a decision he'd been debating on for quite a while.

"Ugh!" he shouted. "That's it! We've been in here for TOO LONG!" He then stomped over to the wall to their right.

Mordecai knew exactly what he was about to do. He quickly rushed in front of Benson, blocking him from the wall of weeds.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." said Mordecai.

"What are you talking about?" said Benson. "I'm just going through a wall."

"That's just it, though," said Mordecai. "That's the thing about mazes: you aren't supposed to jump any walls."

"Well, it's the only idea that seems legit right now. You got a better one?"

Mordecai rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, no..." he said, "it's just that it may seem like a good idea..." he paused. 'Time to whip out pep-talk mode' he thought. "-But in the end, look at how many things have happened to us. I mean, we've basically been chewed up and down through every part of this park. And usually, it has nothing to do with the park itself. It's just some weird creature, or myth, or something. The first day we got here, we found out that it's not safe to play 'rock, paper scissors' at all. And there have been like, so many other things we know not to mess with."

"Yeah," said Margaret, as she put her hand on Benson's shoulder, "like solids."

Benson thought about it for a moment. So much he wanted to deny it. But try as he might, they were right. He had said it himself. 'Something is going to happen, it always does.' He inwardly cursed at himself for that earlier comment.

"Okay," he said, "how about this?" he pointed to the wall behind Mordecai, "I'll take a peek first, and if nothing happens, I get to go through. Okay?"

Mordecai sighed. "Fine..." he said.

"Thank you," Benson said as he moved past Mordecai.

He had some trouble pushing past the weeds, seeing as how they were all at least ten inches thick. After his view of the other side became clear, he observed it and tried to find anything out of the ordinary... Well, at the moment, everything was out of the ordinary right about now. He wasn't surprised when there wasn't any sign of danger or...anything else, but more tall weeds on the other side of the path he could see.

He turned around to look back at Mordecai and Margaret.

"Okay," he said, pointing at the wall, "there's nothing there. I'm going through."

"Okay," Mordecai said with a fake smile, "we'll see you when we find you again."

"What?" said Margaret.

"Ohhh no," Benson pointed at him. "You're coming, too, Mordecai." Benson looked at Margaret, "Both of you."

"Yeah, Mordecai," said Margaret. "Even if we don't pick the best path-" they heard Benson give a small growl, "-it's still best if we stay together," she finished.

Mordecai wasn't exactly pleased with either of their comments, but there wasn't really a point in finding another way to go, seeing as how he would be walking by himself.

"Fine..." he said following the two through the weeds.

Benson went first. After they couldn't see him Margaret shouted "Benson, are you through?"

They waited for a response.

There was none.

"Benson?" Mordecai shouted.

They waited some more.

And some more.

Mordecai looked at Margaret.

"I think it's our turn," he said.

Margaret nodded.

They stepped through the seemingly endless wall of weeds. It took them about five minutes to actually start believing that there wasn't an end.

"This is ridiculous!" said Mordecai, "There has be an opening some-" he cut himself off with his own gasp.

"-where..." he finished. Before them was what they would consider - and what was - a giant television screen.

"Holy...wow..." said Margaret, as if she was hypnotized by it.

On the screen there was a demo of Pac-Man playing. Mordecai looked below the screen, where he saw a small repetitive flash coming from. He moved closer to it to see what it was. He saw that it was coming from a much, much smaller screen. As he stood right in front of it, it stopped flashing. He then looked a bit closer to see if there was something he couldn't see before. Some small blue words appeared on the screen.

'YOU HAVE BROKEN THE RULES,' it read.

"Rules!?" Mordecai shouted, looking at Margaret, who flinched. "What rules? We were just looking for our friend!"

"Hey, don't yell at me," Margaret said while raising her hands in defense. "I totally agree with you."

"Oh," Mordecai said, realizing that he was looking in her direction as he was yelling. "Sorry, heh."

"It's okay," said Margaret. "Hey, maybe it can hear us."

They both looked back at the tiny screen.

'UHHH...' it read.

Mordecai and Margaret both looked at each other and face-palmed. They then looked back at the screen.

'OH YEAH! YOU BROKE THE THING!'

They looked at each other again.

"What thing?" said Margaret.

"I dunno," Mordecai replied. "Oh, wait! The thing about mazes!"

"The what...?"

"The Thing About Mazes."

Margaret raised an eyebrow at him.

"The Thing About Mazes!" Mordecai exclaimed. "Ya know, You Aren't Supposed To Jump Any Walls...?"

"Ohhh," said Margaret, "you mean the rule about mazes?"

"Well..." said Mordecai, as he shrugged his shoulders, "no one's ever really called it that before, so..."

"You've done this before?"

"Well, yeah, when I was a kid..." Mordecai looked at the ground as he spoke. He looked back at her when he started to speak again, "...and only in kiddy maze books. At the beginning of each one it always taught some moral lesson about not jumping walls or crossing lines, and I never really thought much of it until now, seeing as how this..." he paused to look at the giant screen again, "...oversized game of Pac-Man wants something with us. Didn't you ever do any maze books when you were little?"

Margaret shook her head.

"Oh, hehe," said Mordecai, scratching the back of his head. "Really?" Margaret nodded. "I was never really into it..." she said, shrugging.

They both saw another flash out the corner of their eyes. They looked at the tiny screen again.

'ANYWHOOOO...' it read.

Mordecai sighed, "Okay, yes, we jumped a wall. We were just looking for our friend. He's a raccoon, about four-foot-one. Have you seen him?"

They then heard a cry for help from above them. They both looked up at the bigger screen to see a pixilated raccoon running for dear life from different colored ghosts that seemed to be gaining on him.

"How'd he get in there!?" he shouted at the smaller screen.

"Mordecai," said Margaret, grabbing his shoulder. Mordecai looked at her and listened. "Look," she said, pointing at the small flashing screen. They looked at it again.

'HE ALSO JUMPED A WALL,' it read.

They looked at the bigger screen again.

"Rigby," said Mordecai, "you dummy."

"Hey," said Margaret, nudging him, "we did it, too, ya know."

"Yeah," said Mordecai, "but we didn't want to."

That's when it came to mind.

"Hold on..." said Mordecai, "why haven't we-" he was cut off by the transforming of molecules into pixels.

"AHHHH!" they shouted.

There was a brief moment of falling. Very brief as they both hit a pixilated black floor, rear-end first.

"Oof!"

After realizing that they were on electronically solid ground, they looked around seeing that they were at an intersection with dark blue walls, then looked at each other, concerned.

"You okay?" asked Mordecai.

"Yeah," said Margaret. "You?"

"Fine here," said Mordecai, "but we need to find-*gasp,*" he stopped in mid sentence, noting the giant yellow ghost behind her, which was faced the opposite direction.

"Margaret," he whispered, holding his wings out, face up, and gesturing toward himself with his fingertips, "walk slowly and quietly toward me."

A worried expression came across her face as she tip-toed across the intersection. In no time, she was next to Mordecai and they both started walking down one of the halls of the maze they were in.

Mordecai lowered his voice to a soft whisper, "That was close," he said as he looked at Margaret.

Margaret just nodded in agreement. She didn't really feel like gaining any kind of attention from any kind of ghost right now.

They turned left after coming to another four-way-split. They immediately stopped with wide eyes, turned around on their heels, and said nothing for a full ten seconds as they hid around the corner.

"Since when was Pac-Man pink?" said Margaret.

"Yeah..." said Mordecai. "Wait, pink? I thought he looked kinda clear..."

"Were you looking at the bottom?"

"I was looking at the top."

"Wait, so if the top is clear and the bottom is pink..."

They both pondered this for a minute that was cut in half about six times.

"Your boss," said Margaret.

"Benson!" Mordecai shouted. Yes, they had just seen a giant gumball machine head. Benson apparently had no body right now, but was still alive. And yes, Mordecai had just shouted his name in realization.

And Benson just heard it.

Hearing a familiar growl come from him, they peeked around the corner.

He was charging at them.

"AHHHH!" they both screamed, turning in the opposite direction to run. This was, indeed, not a smart thing to do, seeing as how there was yet another giant ghost who wasn't exactly intending on being a door. Well...maybe a locked one that didn't have any kind of key. They then turned the corner that they originally came from. They kept running until they saw and heard the raccoon they had been looking for this whole time. He looked to be having quite a nuisance of a day, much like Mordecai and Margaret. And Benson.

Remembering him, they were now frozen in place, just thinking about a few simple things. You know, getting fired, wishing you saw the latest movie or concert, wishing you had kissed the person standing next to you... Oh yeah, and dying.

Realizing this was probably the last chance he had, Mordecai leaned over toward Margaret and kissed her...

...on the cheek. She was still frozen in thought and Mordecai hadn't realized it yet. She was taken by surprise and also from her thoughts, basically regaining consciousness.

Realizing what was happening, they both fell over. Mordecai thought quickly and turned in mid-fall so he would land on his back, next to Margaret, avoiding a much more awkward position.

"Ow," they both said blankly.

"Margaret," said Mordecai.

She turned her head to look at him.

"Keep looking at me," he told her, "and don't look away until I say, okay?"

"Sure..." she said, slightly confused.

"You can even close your eyes if you want," said Mordecai.

"Oh," said Margaret, "I don't mind keeping them open."

"Oh," said Mordecai, realizing what she was implying.

There was terribly deafening silence of complete awkwardness between the two. That silence was broken. It was broken by a giant glass head floating over them, just missing them by less than a foot. Margaret sat up after Benson passed over.

"Whoa..." she said, watching as Benson ate a very scared, blue ghost. She looked back at Mordecai. "So that's why you said to..."

Mordecai nodded and sat up.

"That was pretty slick, you know," Margaret said with a shy smile. "And thanks for saving us."

"No problem," said Mordecai, trying to sound like it was nothing. In his mind, however, it was huge. He just saved Margaret! Well, he saved himself, too, but hey! He saved Margaret! And it was really, really awkward when he did.

"Hey," said Margaret, snapping him out of his thoughts, "I think you just kissed me, by the way."

"Yeah," said Mordecai, shrugging, "but only on the cheek."

Margaret raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"I mean, uh..." Mordecai tried to think of something to say, "yeah, I guess I did, haha."

"No, no," said Margaret, "it's perfectly fine. I was just taken back a bit. I didn't know you had it in you."

"Neither did I, honestly."

They both tried desperately to hold back their laughter. This was a failed attempt. They busted out laughing.

After the storm of laughter, Margaret just wanted to say something like 'I guess it's my turn then' or 'One kiss deserves another' and simply kiss him back. However, she knew that they were still in a video game, so, technically, it wouldn't count. That, and they both wanted to get out of here. So, she decided that they needed to keep going. "So, you surprised yourself?" she asked.

"Yeah..." said Mordecai, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey," said Margaret, "we should keep going." She then motioned for him to follow as she lead the way.

"Right, let's go," said Mordecai. "Wait, where to?"

"Mordecai! Margaret!" they heard Rigby yell. They looked around to see where his voice was coming from. They found him poking his head out from behind the corner of a wall. "Guys," he said, "over here! Come quick! Before it's too late!" He then disappeared behind the corner again.

They quickly followed after him and turned the corner to find the giant Benson...again.

Before they could do or say anything, he spoke, "Guys, there's a way out of here, and it's not that hard either. All you need to do is climb up on top of me, punch a hole in the ceiling and climb out of it. But you need to hurry, my power-up's almost out, okay?"

"Got it, Benson," said Mordecai. "Come on, guys!"

They quickly ran over and in front of Benson.

"Benson," said Mordecai, "say 'ah!'"

"What!?"

"Just do it!"

"Fine," he opened his mouth, "ahhhhh..."

Mordecai grabbed onto Benson's lower set of teeth and began climbing up his face.

"Thanks, Benson."

"Wha-ehuh. Hushh hooey uh!" he tried to say as Mordecai got to the top of his head.

Margaret lifted Rigby up so he could follow Mordecai to the ceiling. Rigby took in the scent as he stood on Benson's teeth. He made a face that indicated that he didn't enjoy the smell.

"Ugh..." he said, "dude, you need some mouth wa-OW!" he was cut off with a punch to his shoulder. He looked over to look at Margaret and said "What!? I can't state my opinion?"

"It's really not the time, Rigby," said Margaret, not even looking at him.

Rigby then realized something.

"Wait, why'd YOU punch me?"

"Mordecai asked me to."

Rigby glared at said bird through the glass of Benson's head and growled lightly. Margaret lifted him up again and set him next to Mordecai. Rigby continued to glare at his best friend until he decided it wasn't worth it. He could glare at him all he wanted when this was over with.

Mordecai went over to help Margaret up.

"Thanks," she said.

"No, thank you," said Mordecai. "For what?"

"For slugging Rigby."

The two birds then simultaneously held their wings up and shouted, "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Rigby just rolled his eyes and walked to the middle of Benson's head.

"Are we gonna get out or not?" he said, pointing at the ceiling three feet above him.

"Of course we are," said Mordecai, as he hurried over next to Rigby. He looked up at the ceiling and held back his fist to punch it. He paused in the position to look at Rigby, "You know we were just messin' with you, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, just hurry up!" he said quickly.

Mordecai released all of his right arm's fury into the virtual ceiling...leaving only a crack.

"What!? Come on..." said Mordecai.

"Try it again," said Rigby.

"Right."

He punched it again, this time breaking it, making a hole that was big enough for all of them.

"There we go. You first, Rigby," said Mordecai, holding his hands out to form a substitute step.

"Sure, sure..." Rigby sighed, stepping on to Mordecai's hands. He was then flung into the air. "AHHHH!" He screeched as he flew through the hole, did three fourths of a front flip, and landed flat on his back. He groaned in pain.

"Okay, Margaret," said Mordecai, "I'll be gentle."

Margaret smiled and stood on his hands.

Just then, the glass beneath them wasn't there anymore.

"AHHHH!" they shouted.

Rigby, however, thought they should at least get out of the maze before they died.

Margaret then felt her hands and feet being grabbed. She may have known who it was, but it still surprised her.

Mordecai felt his feet being grabbed by metal hands. It bothered him a bit, but now was not the time for complaining about the world's worst foot massage.

They instinctively formed a chain. Margaret was at the top, being held up by Rigby. Benson was at the bottom. Mordecai was in the middle.

"Rigby!" Mordecai shouted, "Do you think you can pull us up?"

Rigby was giving it all he had. Which wasn't much. But hey, how strong can you get when you don't get that much exercise?

"I-III'mmmm, trrrrrryyiiinnngg!" he groaned with his eyes closed. He then opened them and looked at who he was carrying:

Mordecai, Margaret, and Benson. Margaret may have been first in line, but Mordecai was more important to him. "Guys..." said Benson, "we've got trouble."

Mordecai and Margaret looked. He was right: there was trouble.

Mordecai looked up at Rigby as the giant purple ghost got closer to them.

"Rigby! We've got trouble! You've gotta pull us up, man!" he shouted.

"You can do it!" said Margaret.

Benson then got an idea.

"PULL US UP, OR YOU'RE FIRED!" he screamed.

It worked.

Rigby then found a new strength within himself. This strength was, well...to not get fired.

"RRRGHHH!" he groaned heavily and pulled his friends up just enough so Margaret could grab the ledge, pull herself up, sit down on the ledge, and pull Mordecai up. Mordecai did the same with Benson, but a bit faster, as to not let the ghost touch him.

After everyone was up, they all had the same idea: crash. It didn't really matter at all to them where they were sitting or standing, or the fact that they were literally on the outskirts of a really old video game. Laying down sounded best to any and all of them.

After about two minutes of rest, Benson sat up.

"Okay, there should be a power switch or something somewhere in this room," he said. "Let's look around for it."

"How do you know all this?" asked Rigby.

"I read the instruction manual."

"Instruction manual for what?"

"Pac-Man! What did you think?"

"You got Pac-Man!?" Mordecai and Rigby blurted out at the same time.

Benson face-palmed.

"It was supposed to be a surprise..."

Rigby felt pretty bad now.

"Ooooh..." he said. "Sorry..."

Benson got up and brushed himself off.

"It's fine," he said, "let's just look for that switch."

They all proceeded to look for it, standing up and walking in different directions. Not TOO different in Mordecai and Margaret's case.

Slowly and obliviously, they kept getting closer to each other as they felt for any kind of switch, lever, button, or just anything in particular that made them feel like they had found something special or useful, therefore feeling the same said adjectives about themselves.

Mordecai moved his hands across what was now known as a virtual wall, hoping to find something. His hand stopped when it felt a feathered hand like his own. He looked to his right. He definitely found SOMETHING.

"Oh," he laughed, "sorry. Didn't see you there, hehe."

Margaret giggled lightly.

"Neither did I," she said. "I-I mean I didn't see YOU, uh, there..."

"It's okay. I knew what you meant."

"Oh, o-okay."

They went back to looking for a switch or something useful.

Then Mordecai realized it:

'Did Margaret just stutter?' he thought. 'TWICE even?'

He pondered this as he felt across the higher part of the wall, coming across what felt like a hole.

"Huh...?"

He touched it with both hands to confirm that it was actually legit.

"Guys!" he said, "I think I found something!"

The others ran over to him to see what he found.

"It's not a switch," said Mordecai, "it's a knob."

And in the hole was a knob. A door knob, literally. It was the same color as the walls around them, hence, the reason they didn't spot it right away.

"Looks promising," said Benson.

They all stared at it for about five seconds.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" said an impatient Rigby. "Open it, already!"

Mordecai sighed, "Fine..."

He then started turning the knob slowly.

"FASTER!" Rigby shouted impatiently.

Mordecai turned it slightly faster. When it wouldn't turn any further, he moved his left hand down to push the door open.

Through the opening they could see an almost blinding white light.

"What is that?" said Margaret.

It almost looked as if they just cracked open the gate to heaven.

Almost.

Actually, not even close.

The door was now open completely. They all walked slowly into the glow, trying to make out what was around them and not be blinded at the same time. So, naturally, they were all squinting. As they walked on, they started to see the source of the light. When they got close enough, they could finally tell what it was. None of them widened their eyes, but that was only because they were still partially being blinded. So, otherwise, they would have. This simply means that, yes, they were surprised. All of them.

Except for Benson. He was not nearly as surprised. It was somewhat expected, in fact.


	5. In The Spotlight

**-5-**

_**In The Spotlight**_

"Skips..." said Benson, shielding his eyes with his right hand, "You didn't need to bring the whole park light setup."

The lights were then turned off, revealing a pretty concerned and relieved looking yeti with a lantern.

"Sorry, guys," he said. "But I'd been searching for you guys for so long, I just got sick of skipping around this dumb maze over and over. Heh! I'd practically memorized it by last night."

"Last night!?" Benson shouted.

"Last night," Skips confirmed.

"Wait," said Benson, "how long have we been missing?"

"Two and a half days."

"Oh, man..."

There was a pause. This pause was used for the realization of things like lack of sleep, wasted free time, and... Oh yeah, work schedules.

Margaret was kicking herself mentally. She was almost considering doing it on the outside, too.

Almost.

'How could that have been two and a half days!?' she thought. This was just utterly confusing and did not make sense to think about. It sort of reminded her of how many boyfriends she's had. Such a category just simply shouldn't go to such a high number. She didn't want to be focused on that at all, though. There was one thing she knew for sure:

"I'm so fired..." she said out loud, putting her hand on her forehead.

"Heh!" Rigby scoffed, "Welcome to our world..."

Mordecai quickly punched him in the shoulder.

"Ack!"

"Don't worry," said Mordecai, "we've only been fired once."

Margaret just stared at them.

"And we were rehired right away!" Rigby said, rather fast.

Margaret tilted her head back and covered her eyes with her hand. She smiled inwardly at the fact that they were trying to help her not feel bad, but it wasn't enough to make it outwardly. And it wasn't really helping, either.

Of course, Benson knew exactly what they were talking about, and he did smile outwardly. However, it was barely noticeable.

Skips took his chance in the small pause to continue informing them.

"Anyhoo..." he said, earning there attention back, "I got tired of the maze and decided I was done looking through it. But I figured I should still keep an eye out for you guys. So, I decided to get the lights from the garage and turn them on every night so you guys would be able to find your way back, and so I could see you easier, too."

"Well, why didn't you set 'em up back at the house?" Rigby asked.

"I did," said Skips, "but I also had my suspicions about this spot, too. So, I brought a few lights over here to check it out. Glad I did, too."

"Wait," said Mordecai, "what makes this spot so special?"

"Turn around."

They turned around.

"What the..." said Benson.

Before them was a building about five stories tall. It looked brand new. It was. It looked like it was a factory of some sort. It was...sort of. It also looked like it covered half of the park. It did.

"What is that?" said Margaret.

"A building," Rigby said, plainly.

"I know!" Margaret shot back.

"A huge building, sorry!"

"Rigby!" Mordecai cut in.

"What!?" said Rigby. "What did I do!? I was just answering her question!"

"Ugh..." said Mordecai. He then pointed at Rigby. "You're being a pain intentionally, now stop it."

Rigby just dismissed his friend with his hand and started walking toward the building.

"Whatever..." he sighed.

Mordecai couldn't believe that, right now, THAT was his best friend. It was mostly okay when HE was messed with by him, but when he messed with Margaret... That was different.

Way different.

It was almost like comparing how comfortable they slept. Yes, way different. Anyway, put a few more 'way's in there and that would just about do it.

"Huh," said Benson, looking back at Skips. "That's really where we came out of?"

"Uh-huh," he replied. "Are you sure you wanna go back in there? What IS in there, anyway?"

"An oversized game of Pac-Man," said Mordecai.

"Like, life-sized?"

"No, bigger."

"Oh, no..."

"What?"

"I hate to say this," Skips paused, closed his eyes, and grabbed the bridge of his nose, "but you guys have to go in there."

"What!?" shouted Benson. "I am NOT being Pac-Man again. It gives me that dumb feeling of... Of..."

"The munchies...?" Rigby finished rudely for him.

Benson face-palmed.

"You could call it that..." he said, sounding agitated.

"Hmph, hmph!" Rigby scoffed. "I DEFINITELY wouldn't mind being Pac-Man, then."

"Actually, Rigby, it's not what you think."

"Oh, it's not?"

"No, it's not."

"Oh," Rigby didn't really feel like arguing with Benson at this point, "I think I'm gonna listen to you this time."

"Good," said Benson. He then realized what was happening. "Wait, you said you're actually going to listen to me?"

Rigby nodded emotionlessly.

"From now on?"

"I didn't say that now, did I?" he said raising arms. "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-" he then realized that Mordecai wasn't joining him and tapped his shoulder, "-OHHHHHHHHH-" no response. He tapped again, "-OHHHHHH-" still no response.

Rigby stopped and looked at Mordecai.

"Come on, man! You left me hangin'!"

"Wrong time, Rigby..."

Rigby turned to look at Benson, who wasn't even there anymore.

"Where'd he go?" Rigby asked.

"I gave him directions back to the house," said Skips.

"What!?" Rigby screeched.

"Don't worry, it's fine," said Skips. "He doesn't need to go with you guys. Only the ones that made the maze need to go in."

Mordecai and Margaret both looked at Rigby.

"What?"

"Looks like the spotlight's on you, Rigby," said Margaret.

"Hey, you guys are going with me!" he shouted, pointing at, uh... he couldn't decide who to point at.

Mordecai then got a fantastic and cruel-ish idea.

"Hold on a sec," he said. He turned around to face Skips. "Hey, Skips," he said.

The yeti looked at him.

"Yeah?" he said.

"How soon does this have to be done?"

"As soon as you want this thing gone, I guess. There's not really a time limit for this one. It's just really annoying for it to just be there, that's all."

The three just stared at him for a few seconds.

"Really?" Rigby was currently in a state of disbelief.

"Really really," Skips confirmed.

"Okay," said Mordecai, "then we're gonna take a break from this for a bit. But we'll be back shortly, so don't worry. Could you tell us the way out?"

"No."

"What?" Mordecai and Margaret said in unison.

"Why not?" Rigby asked.

"You don't need me to. I left a trail of large rocks. Just follow that."

"Oh, okay," said Mordecai. "Come on, guys."

Mordecai had a brilliant, brilliant plan and a devilish, devilish smile.


	6. Check With The Manager

**-6-**

_**Check** **With The Manager**_

When the three reached the field of the park, they headed toward the park house, hoping to find Benson. They wanted to talk to him about heading to the coffee shop with them. Imagine that. Benson, coffee shop. Ha! Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

A familiar song popped into Mordecai's head as they trudged up the stairs to the front porch.

"Why are we taking a break again?" Rigby asked him as they stood in front of the door.

"I'll tell you after we get some rest," he replied.

"Sounds good to me," said Rigby. "I'm not that curious when it comes to rest and relaxation. Actually, anything that's related to sleep, pretty much."

Mordecai and Margaret laughed lightly, just knowing that he would openly admit that he felt like he should to be in his bed all day long.

"That's totally you, Rigby," said Mordecai, as he opened the door.

"Make yourself at home, Margaret," he said after letting the other two in. "Feel free to crash just about anywhere."

"Okay, thanks," said Margaret. "Wait... Anywhere?"

"Yeah..." he replied, "Except the office. Benson constantly uses it to pay bills, check e-mail, and a bunch of other stuff. I've got a bed upstairs if you wanna use that..."

"WHAT!?" Shouted Rigby. "She can't-" Mordecai punched him. "-Ow!"

"That'd be great," Margaret said with a smile. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"I'm pretty sure," said Mordecai.

"Okay," she said. "But ya know, I think we should all grab a bite first. I mean, we haven't had anything in two and a half days."

"Oh yeah," said Mordecai. Holy moly! She was right! How could that escape his mind? Let alone Rigby's? He scratched his head and spoke, "That's actually a really good idea right now. Here, let me fix somethin' up for us really quick." He then made his way over to the kitchen, thinking about what to eat and how Margaret could think of that. Then it hit him like a brick:

_'Duh! She's got a stomach, too,'_ he thought.

"You can come sit at the table if you want," he said back so Margaret could hear.

"Okey dokey," she said with slight enthusiasm, walking over to the table.

"What would you like?" Mordecai asked. "We have eggs, sandwiches, pancakes, sausage, and a bit of cereal, I think..."

Margaret sat down at the table in the kitchen and looked at him. "Uhmmm... Some pancakes would be nice, I guess." She then realized something.

"Hey," she said, slightly laughing, "did we switch jobs or something?"

Mordecai looked straight forward at nothing in particular. He then looked at Margaret.

"Yeah," he said, chuckling, "I guess we kinda did."

"Yeah, I would usually take your order..."

"Hmph, hmph. Guess today must be pretty special, then."

He then returned to pulling out the pancake mix from the pantry. As he put it on the counter, he could hear footsteps rushing down the stairs. He looked to see who it was. Benson was on his way out the door. Mordecai quickly stopped what he was doing and looked at Margaret.

"I'll be right back," he said. He then darted out the front door and called out to Benson.

"Benson!" he shouted.

Benson turned around and looked at him.

"Yeah...?" he said, slightly annoyed.

Mordecai walked up to him.

"I need a favor," said Mordecai.

"You need a favor...?" said Benson.

Mordecai nodded. "I need a favor."

"Shoot."

"Okay, so... You know how Margaret said she was gonna get fired?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I need you to talk to her boss about that. Ask about it."

"Why me?"

"Well, Margaret did get stuck in the park for a while and it wasn't her fault, and you're the manager, so I figured you could talk to her boss about her absence at work. You know, boss to boss..."

Benson thought it over for a few seconds. He ended up with a result that didn't sound too bad to him.

"If she thinks she's going to be fired," he said, "that's usually a sign that she's going to be fired. If she gets fired, she'll probably come to me looking for work." He sighed. "I might as well do what I can..."

Mordecai gave a victorious fist-pump. "Thank you so much, Benson," he said, walking back to the house. "I'll buy you a box of donuts sometime!" he called out, opening the door.

"Donuts...? Huh." Benson actually liked the sound of that.


End file.
